sid, convince me that Murray belongs in this discussion. Don't be so peevish every time you think I'm sleighting your boy. :frowny face:

I don't feel i need to convince anyone on this,ok try this.Rankings if we look @ http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspxtells us that the top 4 have been ahead of all others & had a big gap for ages now.Who outside the top 4 wins Masters?i will tell you,next to know one outside the top four.Murray on his better days can sometimes beat Fed/Nole or Nadal,please tell me who else can do this like Murray?i'd love to know.

Rafa Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb.

The pair last met in January's Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours.While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals."I say it always the same, I want to improve for me," world number two Nadal said while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP tournament in the California desert."I don't want to improve to beat Novak, to beat Roger (Federer) or to beat nobody. I try my best every day to improve my level of tennis, to be a better player year by year.

So whats the point of improving if your goal is not to beat Djokovic, Federer, Murray etc if you happened to be Nadal. This is just speech which makes no sense in the English language. I feel that all Nadal's interview should be done in his native language otherwise this is the result. Ha. You want to improve and your plan is not to beat anybody. What is that ?

He can't control the result.He can only control his own actions.The goal is to be the best player he can be.If someone else is better on a given day, so be it.Ultimate preparation and surpreme effort.That's all that can be asked of anyone in any endeavor.

To get wrapped up in some mind-game of trying to beat a particular player will only detract from his ability to play his best tennis. The focus shifts from playing his best tennis to trying to beat a particular opponent. Certainly a plan to fail.

Rafa Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb.

The pair last met in January's Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours.While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals."I say it always the same, I want to improve for me," world number two Nadal said while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP tournament in the California desert."I don't want to improve to beat Novak, to beat Roger (Federer) or to beat nobody. I try my best every day to improve my level of tennis, to be a better player year by year.

So whats the point of improving if your goal is not to beat Djokovic, Federer, Murray etc if you happened to be Nadal. This is just speech which makes no sense in the English language. I feel that all Nadal's interview should be done in his native language otherwise this is the result. Ha. You want to improve and your plan is not to beat anybody. What is that ?

These are questions that get under your skin in the worst way.

And it's not over yet, more beatings may be on the way and possibly a bad one.

Rafa Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb.

The pair last met in January's Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours.While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals."I say it always the same, I want to improve for me," world number two Nadal said while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP tournament in the California desert."I don't want to improve to beat Novak, to beat Roger (Federer) or to beat nobody. I try my best every day to improve my level of tennis, to be a better player year by year.

So whats the point of improving if your goal is not to beat Djokovic, Federer, Murray etc if you happened to be Nadal. This is just speech which makes no sense in the English language. I feel that all Nadal's interview should be done in his native language otherwise this is the result. Ha. You want to improve and your plan is not to beat anybody. What is that ?

med, you do have a good point here. I'm not sure if something was lost in translation but Rafa is being a bit silly lately. He's been simply ignoring what's happening. I realize it's hard to lose 7 finals to the same player but he's been a bit delusional.

He's choosing to stay the course which will ultimately produce the best possible results. If his focus shifts from improving his game to some sort of half-baked preparation for beating a particular player, he will experience a swift fall from his current perch.

Rafa Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb.

The pair last met in January's Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours.While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals."I say it always the same, I want to improve for me," world number two Nadal said while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP tournament in the California desert."I don't want to improve to beat Novak, to beat Roger (Federer) or to beat nobody. I try my best every day to improve my level of tennis, to be a better player year by year.

So whats the point of improving if your goal is not to beat Djokovic, Federer, Murray etc if you happened to be Nadal. This is just speech which makes no sense in the English language. I feel that all Nadal's interview should be done in his native language otherwise this is the result. Ha. You want to improve and your plan is not to beat anybody. What is that ?

med, you do have a good point here. I'm not sure if something was lost in translation but Rafa is being a bit silly lately. He's been simply ignoring what's happening. I realize it's hard to lose 7 finals to the same player but he's been a bit delusional.

Well shouldn't he? I mean, if he keeps crying over his losses or tailoring his game only to beat Nole, he will start losing to other players as well. He is doing well to just keep improving, he is right in saying that Nole cannot stay at the top forever. Rafa will get his chance for sure.

Rafa Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb.

The pair last met in January's Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours.While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals."I say it always the same, I want to improve for me," world number two Nadal said while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP tournament in the California desert."I don't want to improve to beat Novak, to beat Roger (Federer) or to beat nobody. I try my best every day to improve my level of tennis, to be a better player year by year.

So whats the point of improving if your goal is not to beat Djokovic, Federer, Murray etc if you happened to be Nadal. This is just speech which makes no sense in the English language. I feel that all Nadal's interview should be done in his native language otherwise this is the result. Ha. You want to improve and your plan is not to beat anybody. What is that ?

med, you do have a good point here. I'm not sure if something was lost in translation but Rafa is being a bit silly lately. He's been simply ignoring what's happening. I realize it's hard to lose 7 finals to the same player but he's been a bit delusional.

Well shouldn't he? I mean, if he keeps crying over his losses or tailoring his game only to beat Nole, he will start losing to other players as well. He is doing well to just keep improving, he is right in saying that Nole cannot stay at the top forever. Rafa will get his chance for sure.

"Nole can not stay at the top forever"... Well it may not be Rafa to overtake him. Remember, Rafa was at the top already....who is to say he has already reached his peak? Just saying that because Nole may not stay there is no guarantee that Rafa will take back over. But I do agree that you shouldn't change your game to beat "ONE" player. I think that was probably Roddick's downfall. He changed his game to try to be Roger, and now he's getting beat by just about everyone!

I guess in his statement "to be the best of myself" does not mean I are not going to add nothing to my game. I doubt that he tries to find the way to beat Djokovic, but he does not want to tell you. So he turns a coner and leave you to image.